


chronos

by andthencoffee (yawawoo)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Donghyuck mistaking attraction as hate hah, Enemies to Lovers, Fights, Growing Up, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, that's it that's the whole story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:21:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23256847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yawawoo/pseuds/andthencoffee
Summary: Three years ago, Donghyuck hated Minhyung with everything he had, for everything Minhyung was, including how his gut was telling him that Lee Minhyung was going to be a permanent problem (fixture) in his life.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 19
Kudos: 162
Collections: Markhyuck





	chronos

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'd using online grammar checker lol.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

**[i]**

Three years ago, Donghyuck hated Minhyung for everything that he was. Donghyuck had hated him ever since he transferred in his last year of middle school, a boy with braces from Canada, lanky, used too many English words in his sentences. Donghyuck hated the hesitant smiles Minghyung threw his way, his stupid haircut, his ability to equally keep up with and ignore Donghyuck’s name-calling when they eventually found out that they had a lot to compete at.

Donghyuck hated how Minhyung just had to go to his high school, hated how wrong he was in thinking that a quiet boy like Minhyung didn’t have a viciousness to match his own. Donghyuck hated how good Minhyung was in his weakest subjects, how Minhyung got along with Nana and how he kept trailing behind Jungwoo, getting close to _his_ friends. Donghyuck hated how Minhyung could land punches that stung for days, how deep it cut when he said how Donghyuck was just a pathetic, angry kid despite being a high school student, hated how much poison Minhyung could infuse in a single infuriated, “ _Lee Donghyuck!_ ”

Three years ago, Donghyuck hated Minhyung with everything he had, for everything Minhyung was, including how his gut was telling him that Lee Minhyung was going to be a permanent problem (fixture) in his life.

**[ii]**

Two years ago, Donghyuck hated how Minhyung had seemed to purposefully take all the extra classes Donghyuck was in, even getting higher grades in some of them, smugly smiling at him when he managed to correct Donghyuck’s answer on the board. Donghyuck hated how Minhyung found out a way to look even brighter with thick-rimmed glasses and bleached hair. Donghyuck hated how every time he saw a blond person Minhyung’s face would flash in his mind like a warning. Donghyuck hated how Minhyung talked loudly and made lame jokes that reached Donghyuck’s ears and forced him to bite the inside on his cheek to keep from laughing.

Two years ago, Donghyuck hated Minhyung with everything he had, for everything Minhyung was, including how funny he was (is).

**[iii]**

A year ago, Donghyuck hated how Minhyung seemed to expand his range of friends, and how he started to hang out with Nana a lot. Donghyuck hated how Minhyung seemed to have finally outgrown his problems a little better than him, how he would no longer keep up that fake shy, good-boy persona of his.

Donghyuck hated how Minhyung didn’t always take Donghyuck’s rage seriously, how Minhyung had learned to distinguish Donghyuck’s different kinds of anger. Donghyuck hated how Minhyung had started to use his first name only when yelling. Donghyuck hated how Minhyung pointed out, while they were rolling around the school’s rooftop in a punching-fest, that the pretty red that colored Donghyuck’s cheeks had been a blush, and not a flush fueled by anger.

And Donghyuck hated, _hated,_ how right Minhyung was.

**[iv]**

Donghyuck hated how Minhyung continued to go to the same cram school and actually looked serious in preparing for the SATs (who was he kidding, Minhyung was the epitome of good-boy-student-overachiever). Donghyuck hated how Minhyung wordlessly saved him a spot in the library after school, giving him the seat nearest to the window and waking him up when they were about to close. He wanted to yell at Minhyung for not waking him up earlier, but he found that he had genuinely been too tired to do anything else. Donghyuck hated how it started to look as if Minhyung _cared_ about him.

Donghyuck hated how Minhyung’s usual glare that used to be the only way he looked at Donghyuck, became smirking eyes that glinted with things Donghyuck didn’t want to (was too afraid to) name. Donghyuck hated how Minhyung occupied the walls of his head, how his words sometimes echoed in his mind at random times.

Donghyuck hated how Minhyung was there when he got home and it rained confetti, how Minhyung was there to give him a noogie before letting him blow his mismatched seventeen candles like he was handing over his own wishes for Donghyuck to be blown away with the smoke, up in the air until it reached whichever god that listened.

Donghyuck hated it that it was getting harder and harder to ignore all the flaws in Minhyung that Donghyuck made himself, how everything in Minhyung that he hated was slowly melting away to reveal things Donghyuck might come to love instead without Donghyuck noticing.

**[v]**

Last month, Donghyuck hated how Minhyung talked about college, about getting the hell out of town because “Nothing and no _one_ is holding me back in this place.” Donghyuck hated that Minhyung still kept trying to trail behind Jungwoo and the seniors he looked up to.

Donghyuck hated how Minhyung still made him unable to say what he really meant (that, _Minhyung, you moron you have friends here. You have me—_ ), how Minhyung still forced him to yell out things he didn’t mean (saying instead, _Can’t wait until the town gets its peaceful days back without you_ ), how Minhyung always made these pinched faces every time that made Donghyuck hate himself instead.

Donghyuck hated how Minhyung seemed to stop being able to dig deeper into Donghyuck’s angry words and hand gestures and hunched shoulders. Donghyuck hated how Minhyung simply settled on giving him exasperated sighs, but still shared his mom’s kimbap at lunch. Donghyuck hated how easily Minhyung had given up on him, how easily Minhyung gave up knocking down Donghyuck’s walls when there was only a thin layer left.

**[vi]**

Last week, Donghyuck hated how Minhyung managed to take him for an impromptu trip to the sea. Donghyuck hated how Minhyung didn’t say anything when he demanded where everyone else was ( _where’s Nana? Why not go with him?_ ) and just led him to the train station and sat beside him in a half-empty car, immediately looking outside the window and fixed his eyes on the train platforms. Donghyuck hated not knowing why he loathed the space between them.

Donghyuck hated how in the middle of the ride, Minhyung hummed, in his beautiful, raspy falsetto, a song about regretting the choices you made in your youth, leaving behind people you didn’t realize you love and never got the chance to say what you really felt. Donghyuck hated how he didn’t know if the song was about Minhyung, or himself, or _them._ Or if it didn’t mean anything at all and Minhyung was just singing because it fit his voice well.

Donghyuck hated how Minhyung looked from the back when they finally stood on an empty beach, looking out to the setting sun, looking serene, beautiful, and _sad_ and keep saying nothing but managing to keep Donghyuck’s eyes from looking elsewhere.

Donghyuck hated how the churning feeling in his gut, the constricting of his heart, the sting behind his eyeballs rendered him helpless and immobile and gave Minhyung a chance to hold his hand all the way home. Donghyuck hated how he didn’t have anything to say when they got back and Minhyung walked him home.

**[vii]**

Yesterday, Donghyuck hated how his hand shook all day, hated that he couldn’t return his mom’s eager eyes when she hung his graduation robes behind Donghyuck’s door. Donghyuck hated how his mind kept replaying that trip he had with Minhyung, the lyrics of the song.

Donghyuck hated how Minhyung had looked drenched in the nostalgic orange light of sunset, the set of his perfect jaw and the tight line of his lips. Hated how Minhyung had looked so grim but still somewhat hopeful when Donghyuck squeezed his hand back.

But most of all Donghyuck hated himself most for letting go of that hand and stomping on the already dim fire of hope Minhyung held in his eyes. Donghyuck hated himself for only knowing that he’d let go of something he didn’t know he had until he did.

**[viii]**

This morning, Donghyuck hated how the first thing that he saw when he opened his eyes was the dark blue graduation robe. Donghyuck hated how that piece of clothing was all he needed to start crying into his crumpled sheets, sobs that held more than one particular brand of emotional turmoil hacking up his whole body, forcing him to curl in on himself. Donghyuck hated how he thought he’d muffled himself enough that his mom wouldn’t come barging in, hated how their breakfast was burnt because of him.

Donghyuck hated how he never thanked his mom enough for always being there. Donghyuck hated that the sky didn’t fall and the world didn’t end and stop him from going to his high school graduation.

**[ix]**

Right now, Donghyuck doesn’t know what to feel as he sits in a half-rusted, creaky folding chair in the school hall, with Minhyung in the seat right behind his, watching their friends walking up one by one to the stage upfront to receive their diplomas from the principal. Soon he wouldn’t be walking down the familiar school hallways, wouldn’t have to fall asleep on his textbooks in the library after school. Jungwoo graduated last year, and he wouldn’t be seeing much of Renjun or Nana anymore.

Donghyuck doesn’t know what to feel, because he feels like he’s been feeling more than he is capable of already and his soul just gives up on everything and chooses to be numb instead. The numbness feels like an old friend he hasn’t seen in years and years and it makes Donghyuck wonder when it even stopped coming by and staying in the first place.

The Vice-Principal has called the last name starting with K, and Donghyuck’s name rings out along with his friends’ in the same row through the microphone and echoes in the high ceilings of the full hall, followed by another roar of applause (Renjun and Nana’s being the loudest ones). The reality of the situation seems to finally sink in with the noises all around him, making his legs tremble so terribly that Donghyuck’s sure he’s going to fall, even from his seat. He doesn’t immediately get up, he is aware, still trying to quench the raging _something_ in his entire being when a pair of hands lands on his shoulders.

They're Minhyung’s. One hand moves to pinch his cheek, another slithers up to caress the curls on Donghyuck’s nape. And Donghyuck stands up and walks.

It’s not that far of a walk to the stage, Donghyuck realizes when he’s reached the end of his row, applause dissipating and people turning heads to look at him. It’s not that far of a walk, so it won’t mean much if he takes a small detour, will it? Because Donghyuck needs— _has_ to, _must_ make that detour, for it is going to be his last chance, his very last, to fix and take back what he’s let go. After all, Minhyung had touched him, had put out his wishes for Donghyuck, or _of_ Donghyuck, like when he touched Donghyuck on his seventeenth birthday.

Donghyuck spins on his heel, walking in big strides right back toward his empty seat, knocking it to the side, and he grabs Minhyung’s jaws and kisses him on the lips.

The lips that Donghyuck had punched so many times before are warm and soft, slotting perfectly with his own. The numbness is gone, swept away by a flock of butterflies that raids his insides (ticklish, jittery, giddy, free, _in love_ ), heart beating so fast and eyes scrunched up, he’s falling, but unlike his hat that reaches its final ground on the floor, Donghyuck keeps flying in his fall.

It takes only a moment for Minhyung to stop being paralyzed with shock and he pushes that feeling back down, grappling at Donghyuck’s face and shoulder, pulling him up and impossibly closer even though they only have a few insignificant inches between them. The kiss is feverish, with only tips of tongues meeting in a flash of open mouths, half angry in its short-lived happening, and someone hoots again (Nana) and it’s enough to make them let go of each other before looking into each other’s wide eyes and panting through half-open lips.

And then Minhyung _smiles,_ wide and full of teeth and cheeks dimpling and so unbelievably happy and charming and Donghyuck is overwhelmed by how gorgeous he looks with it. It’s someone Donghyuck has never seen before, not even someone he has ever dared to imagine in his head. Minhyung's smile holds so much emotion that it seeps into Donghyuck’s soul, and the stretch of a smile and warmth on his own face are the results of Minhyung’s bright beam.

Donghyuck’s greedy eyes drink in the twinkles from his clear brown eyes, hating and fearing that he’ll never again witness how deep the dimple in Minhyung’s left cheek is, how delicate the arches of his eyebrows are when they aren’t pitted together in a frown.

Donghyuck can only hopelessly stand there in awe, probably looking like an idiot and messing up today’s meticulously-arranged schedule and annoying a lot of people, watching as Minhyung leans down to collect their graduation caps hurriedly. Donghyuck watches as Minhyung puts his own on his seat and puts Donghyuck’s back onto his spinning head, fitting it with a gesture that feels sure, definite but not final, as if he’s guaranteeing things Donghyuck can only hope for at this moment.

“You still need to graduate, Donghyuck,” Minhyung says, chuckling, looking embarrassed but still grinning and still so, so handsome. He puts a hand on Donghyuck’s shoulder, gives a slight push toward the general direction of the stage, but when Donghyuck starts moving, he lets his hand trail along Donghyuck’s arm, and like some cheesy old film, kisses the back of Donghyuck’s hand when he reaches that part.

Donghyuck is not sure he wants a copy of today’s video, because he is sure it is going to be embarrassing watching all this, watching how he practically runs up the stage to both avoid looking at the reaction from everyone (who has gone quiet, the only sound being the low piano instrumental of the school’s marching song). Donghyuck bounds up the small set of stairs, keeping his eyes on the ground even as he crosses Renjun and Yangyang, and keeps doing so until he can see Principal Seo’s nicely polished dress shoes.

“Congratulations, Mr. Lee,” Donghyuck hears him say to the microphone. He hands out Donghyuck’s rolled-up diploma, which Donghyuck takes with a nod and a low ‘thank you’. And after moving the white tassel on his hat to the right, Principal Seo offers his hand, putting his other soothingly on Donghyuck’s shoulder and giving it an encouraging squeeze. Donghyuck looks up, meeting Principal Seo’s amused gaze. Donghyuck is frozen in confusion this time, and doesn’t have the time to lean back when the tall man squeezes his hand, too, before saying in a low volume, secretively, “Congratulations, Donghyuck.”

Vice-Principal Moon seems to have said something funny into the microphone, because suddenly the room erupts in laughter as Donghyuck dazedly makes his way to where he has been instructed to stand.

Donghyuck still feels like he isn’t in complete control of his body because he just _kissed Minhyung and_ the principal _congratulated_ him _twice_ (possibly even _because_ he kissed _Minhyung_ ) but really, Donghyuck is only capable of blinking and absently nodding at his classmates who pat his shoulders as he gets back in line.

The rest of the ceremony goes in a blur, the clearest thing that registers into Donghyuck’s memory is _Minhyung_ , _Minhyung, Minhyung._ They take pictures with all the teachers, take pictures with some other people, people take pictures of them, Renjun and Nana hugging him from left and right, flashes from cameras of various gadgets almost blinding Donghyuck.

Somewhere in the chaos Minhyung finds him, pulling Donghyuck closer by the waist, and then drags him to a large circle he recognizes as their mutual friends. Everyone is laughing, everyone laughs harder and coos when they see Donghyuck and Minhyung, pushing or slapping their backs good-naturedly.

“It’s a bit creepy seeing you _not_ looking like you want to kill Minhyung," Yangyang says, and Donghyuck laughs, and it’s free and light and liberating.

“Good to see they finally upped the level of their married life.”

“ _Nana!_ And everyone! Would you guys stop talking like we’re not here!” Minhyung protests, but not without a smile on his face.

“Hey,” Donghyuck says, in a surprisingly serious tone and a slight frown that has everyone worried that maybe their teasing had been too much. Minhyung too is now looking at him with a strange expression, like he’s preparing for something bad but also trying to maintain his smile. Even though he feels bad about making Minhyung think that he’s going to say something horrible, Donghyuck continues, circling his own arm around Minhyung’s waist, bumping their hips together, saying, “sorry everyone else knew this before we did, before _I_ did, but it’s true. I love you.”

It’s Donghyuck’s turn to be worried when Minhyung’s slight frown doesn’t immediately melt, but becomes even more complicated and _shit,_ Minhyung has started to cry. Donghyuck is baffled. “Minhyung! Why are you crying!”

Minhyung swings an arm, and Donghyuck thinks briefly about what he has done to deserve a punch on his graduation day (and _Confession_ Day). But Minhyung doesn’t sock him in the jaw; the arm winds around his shoulders instead and Minhyung is hugging him tightly. Minhyung’s diploma digs into Donghyuck’s nape a bit painfully, but what’s more distracting is the wet chuckles Minhyung is letting out into Donghyuck’s neck.

“Oh god, Hyuck. I thought you were going to tell me this was all a mistake, or that I need to wake up soon! I love _you_ , too, I love you so much.”

**[x]**

Today… there’s nothing Donghyuck hates about today.

Donghyuck lies there in his small bed, back to the wall so that Minhyung can lie on his back beside him. Worn out from the impromptu after-party, stomach full of fried chicken and soda and contentedness, everything warm and alight and alive. Donghyuck looks at the perfect planes of Minhyung’s face in the dimness of the room, the slope of his nose and defined cheekbones and dark undercut.

Donghyuck traces a finger on every nook and crevices on Minhyung’s face, the taller boy turning his head and looking at him with a small smile gracing his face. Donghyuck’s tanned skin a contrast to Minhyung’s paleness, stark under the white streetlight that finds its way between Donghyuck’s drapes. Just looking at Minhyung like that, it all feels like a dream still. Until it doesn’t.

Though his fingers are trembling, Minhyung’s kisses all over his body are firm. His caresses fleeting, his movements sure. Minhyung makes sure to drag his lips all over Donghyuck’s exposed skin, patiently, adoringly, as each article of clothing that separates their skin comes off one by one.

Minhyung opens up Donghyuck’s walls this time, slowly removing the bricks softly, confidently, one by one rather than knocking it in on itself. Careful, intent, drawing out all the sounds Donghyuck doesn’t know he can make, finding out all the places that make the brunette shiver with newly found feelings. Everything feels so good, too perfect, and it hurts, so good, and it aches and Donghyuck cries this time because he finally feels how real this is.

Today, Donghyuck loves Minhyung with everything he has, for everything Minhyung is, including how his gut is telling him that Lee Minhyung is going to be a permanent fixture in his life. And in a year, Donghyuck can still see Minhyung behind him, pressing lazy kisses on his shoulders. And in two years, and beyond, Donghyuck knows that he’ll hate himself if he ever thinks of lying to himself again and stopping himself from feeling any differently than he does now. 

Never again.

**Author's Note:**

> I made this for an anime fandom years ago in a deleted account and looking at how hostile the characters were I though MarkHyuck fit the story best. Anddd for the record idk how the minds of boys work. 
> 
> (I also don't know where to fit angry make-out sessions in there, so...)
> 
> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Anyways thanks for reading! Kudos and comments makes me a happy cup of coffee 😁


End file.
